How To Hare

GH3 – Hash Setting Guidelines

Becoming a hare

If you’d like to be a “Hare” (i.e. help set a Hash trail), please contact the Hashmaster or the Hare-Raiser, either at a Hash (preferable), or via telephone. The Hashmaster is Brian Steele (405-2307) and the current Hare-Raiser is Phil Clift (420-1058).

Location:

Identify the area you want to set a Hash in then try where possible to find a local bar rather than bringing a bar in. We are trying to return something to the community whose territory we are invading!

When identifying a bar remember you will need to be able to park about 50 – 60 cars. Please ensure adequate parking is available.

Please avoid bars on the side of main roads. The Hash activities will likely be disturbed by passing traffic.

While the after-hash celebrations tend to finish around 8PM, we’d prefer to NOT have a designated cut-off time. This however may be unavoidable due to the venue chosen to host the hash. If a cut-off time cannot be avoided, this must be communicated to the Hare-Raiser and the Hashmaster at least a week prior to the hash.

Details of the Hash and directions etc. to its location need to be communicated to the Hashmaster or the Hare-Raiser at least a week before the Hash.

Please try and ensure there are facilities for ladies. Nothing too elaborate, just air conditioned, hot and cold running water, soft toilet tissue, mirror for checking make up etc!

Don’t forget you will need to put up Hash signs on the day directing Hashers to your location. Liaise with the Hashmaster or Hare-Raiser regarding signs. It is YOUR responsibility to retrieve the signs at the end of the day. Hash signs need to be put up at least 2 hours before the start. Make sure you have enough signs – one at every junction.

Bar:

The bar will need to stocked with about 20 cases of beer (about 5 Carib & 15 Stag). If the beer is taken as part of a concession/promotion agreement from Grenada Breweries Ltd, then the beer must be sold at the price designated by Grenada Breweries Ltd. in the agreement.

The bar should also be stocked with a couple of cases of water, a couple cases of Coke and maybe some other soft drink. A bottle or two of rum can also be included, but this is not a huge seller.

At least half of the drinks should be placed on ice at least two hours before the start of the Hash and the coolers restocked as and when necessary. Cold drinks sell well. Warm drinks do not.

Food:

The main food items normally requested by Hashers are BBQ chicken and oil down.

Try to have a vegetarian option as well – “fish waters” is usually ok for this.

Please ensure that any food being provided is available for consumption with an hour of the start of the Hash.

DJ / Music System:

A PA system with a microphone (preferably wireless) should be available and ready for use at least half-an-hour before the scheduled start of the Hash.

Along with cold beer, good food and good company, a good DJ on a good PA system will encourage the Hashers to stay longer after completion of the Hash. A PA system that’s turned up too loud and driven into distortion does not qualify as a good PA system!

As part of the promotional agreement with Grenada Breweries Ltd., note that $175 is provided by Grenada Breweries Ltd. to offset the cost of the DJ and his system.

If a PA system cannot be made available, please ensure the Hashmaster is notified at least one day prior to the Hash, to all sufficient time for alternate arrangements for a PA system to be made.

5. Liaise with the bar at the beginning of the week and again 2 days before the hash to make sure all is in order.

Trails:

Hashers do not like walking or running on roads. Please use bush trails wherever possible.

It is always a good idea to ask at the bar you have chosen for some guidance and help in locating trails and making sure that where the trails cross private land you have permission from the landowner. Make sure you always have permission to cross private land.

Other than full moon Hashes and other special occasions, at least two trails are required – a “Runners” trail and a “Walkers” trail. All trails should start off at the same spot and then split to separate trails further on, and the split(s) should be clearly marked. If possible, avoid having the Runners trail split near the start – this might help deter some of the walkers who shouldn’t be on the Runners trail from taking it.

Always try to have a good long wide trail for the first half mile or so. This allows runners and walkers to sort themselves out. If you cannot have a good half mile of wide track at the start of the Hash, then advise the Hashmaster to start the runners off 2 minutes before the walkers.

Trails should be based on time not on distance. The Runners trail should be runnable in about an hour and the Walkers trail should be walkable in about an hour.

The WALKERS TRAIL SHOULD BE EASILY ACHIEVABLE BY ALL. No ropes, river sections or other potentially difficult parts.

The Runners trail is fair game for any of the above but if part of the Runners trail is particularly difficult or long, then consider making an “Iron Man” loop. This will be a loop off the Runners trail which Hashers can choose to take or not.

On all trails, you need to think about the fact that about 200 pairs of feet may be going through the trail and try to imagine what the trail will be like for the ones at the rear of the pack. It may not need a rope at the start but it may need one at the end. It is always better to be safe than sorry. If in any doubt whatsoever please put a rope on steep sections. Remember it might be ok when you set it, but we might be having torrential rain when Hashers are on the trail. We can get plenty of rope so just ask.

Always station somebody where the trails split, and have a cut off time when nobody can take the longer trail.

At the start hares need to announce details of the course. Mention must be made of any difficult parts of the course e.g. river & rope sections, and any other sections that may have a severe drop on one side or both. Any trails that have any of these sections should NEVER be classed as a Walkers trail. It is however usually ok for a Walkers trail to cross a river, (if the river is not deep or fast flowing). Use your common sense – there will probably be young children on the trail. If the Walkers trail is going to cross a river make sure it is announced in the Hash notice and again at the start of the Hash.

DO NOT cross any cultivated land, including vegetable gardens. Ensure that any trails are set at least ten meters away from any such cultivated land, and set in such a manner as to discourage Hashers from trying to take short cuts through the land. If it is not possible to avoid getting too close to cultivated land, consider using caution tape to keep Hashers on the trail and off the land.

Try to always use the very fine shredded paper to mark the trail – it dissolves quicker. Do not make the blobs too big especially on open ground or easily followable trails (we do not want to be littering the countryside). Small blobs every 10 – 20 yards is ample. Obviously in thick bush they need to be larger and much closer.

When marking a Walkers trail, make the blobs visible and easy to follow. Runners trails are fair game for introducing blobbing techniques that make runners look for the trail. Consider also using plenty of false trails to slow the “Front-Running Bastards” (FRB)’s down, but please remember we are not trying to lose all the runners in the bush!

False trails can be set on all trails, but try not to have them too close to the start as this leads to bottlenecks.

All false trails should be marked as follows:

a. Where the trail splits into the real trail and one or more false trails, the split should be clearly marked with a circle of paper (“Decision Point”)

b. The end of the false trail is cleared marked with an “X” made of paper.

The idea of Hashing is that it is NOT a race and to try and get all the Hashers back together. This is not possible with as large a group as we normally have, but by slowing the FRB’s down and by making the walkers trail easy to follow it will help.